Day 395: Hanoi

I used this morning to finalize and send my first job application, and start work on another one. In the afternoon, I strolled around Hanoi's old quarter for a bit. The traffic in Hanoi's old quarter is crazy, especially during rush hours. At any given time, there are hundreds of motorbikes, tens of cars and a few buses competing for space on the relatively narrow streets. The sidewalks are occupied by shops displaying their goods, and by parked motorbikes. So the only option for pedestrians is to join in the space competition and walk on the street. The motorbike drivers seem to be used to the situation, however, and generally avoid running over pedestrians.

Crossing the streets, just like in Saigon, is a matter of simply starting to walk and expecting traffic to part around you. Funnily enough, my guidebook warned to look in all directions before crossing - left, right, front, back - but I have found that looking is almost not necessary and mostly serves to freak me out. So by now I have the routine of barely glancing at the next meter, only in the direction where most motorbikes come from, and then simply walking on. I'm still glad every time I'm not run over, though ;-)

After a while, my wanderings took me to Hoan Kiem lake, a big lake in the middle of the old quarter. The small temple of the jade mountain is built on an islet, and there are nice views of the lake from the temple grounds.

The temple also seems to be a popular spot for older men gathering to play board games - Xianqi, most likely. Just imagine this taking place on the steps of a Catholic church... kinda hard to imagine, isn't it?